"voy a tatuarme en la piel
tu inicial porque es la mía
pa' acordarme para siempre
de lo que me hiciste un día" *

NOVEMBER 15TH, 1992

The whistle blew and Madam Hooch dropped the ball into the air, Preece giving Maia a murderous look, these two being the chasers who would fight for the first quaffle of the match. Preece was tall but skinny, not too big, and Flint had found it amusing that Maia was her opponent, given the young Slytherin's condition. Sure enough, Maia hit the back of the Hufflepuff's broom, who spun like a spinning top, and, smirking, Maia snatched up the quaffle.

She hurried to the hoops of the opposing field, dodging a bludger that came directly to her face, and passed the quaffle towards Flint when she was surrounded by two Hufflepuff chasers. She tipped the broom down, passing between Preece's legs, who seemed to want revenge, and the stands erupted in applause.

"Damn! Malfoy is really good — I never thought I would say this." Lee Jordan commented from his seat next to the teachers.

She looked up, where her brother had a hard time finding the snitch, but found out that Diggory wasn't having it easy either. There was some fog, but it didn't significantly decrease the conditions of the game, so Maia wished Draco quickly found the snitch.

She came out of her lethargy when Montague passed the quaffle to her hard. She tucked it between her broom and her chest, nimbly dodging the bludgers thrown at her by Hufflepuff's beaters and attempts to unbalance her by the other Hufflepuffs. She gripped her new broom hard —the best on the market, she should add— and accelerated and veered, causing the two Hufflepuffs to bump and to rescue each other so they wouldn't fall off the broom.

She was closer than ever to the opposing team's keeper, and threw the quaffle as hard as she could. The Slytherin crowd erupted in cheers and applause, chanting her name: it had gone in. Montague and Flint gently slapped her on the head and Maia smiled: she could get used to it.

In fact, that action was repeated so many times that, although Cedric Diggory caught the snitch - much to the chagrin of Draco, who furiously removed his protections - the game score was too bulky for Hufflepuff to have a chance to win, even adding those 150 points.

Maia left the game on the shoulders of Marcus Flint, who proclaimed to the four winds that if the next year she decided to try out, he would even leave the captaincy to her. The Malfoy bowed down, amused, at the Slytherin section, which acclaimed her name, and smiled widely.

"You have Quidditch in your blood, Malfoy." The captain commented. "You deserve a good rest, great game."

However, Maia didn't get to play more games that year with the Slytherin team, given the circumstances of the Chamber of Secrets, nor the following year, since she left the team after a stellar game.

TODAY

The Manor remained as she remembered it. So big, but so empty. The echo of her footsteps reverberating against the walls of the rooms. So dark, so gloomy. Maia felt that she barely remembered the times when light rays had entered through the glass, or when they lit the fireplace in the winter. She only remembered the dark walls, the deserted rooms and someone's footsteps, wandering the corridors like a soul in pain.

She hated to think of earlier times because they reminded her of what she lived now. She didn't remember the times when she had called those four walls home, because there was nothing left of that. She felt like they were four strangers to each other, pretending that everything was fine when everything was falling apart.

She had sat for what seemed like hours on her bed, undone. She ran her hand over the covers, stroking the soft touch of its Slytherin fabric. Her parents had bought them for her and Draco even before entering Hogwarts, and although at the time it filled her with happiness, she now truly realized that they already had their entire future planned.

She hadn't spoken to her brother since they had returned home, but she felt that once at Malfoy Manor, things would begin to return to normal. She thought it was inevitable: they had to protect themselves now more than ever, and they couldn't do it under those conditions. Narcissa hadn't noticed the argument between the two twins, and Maia thanked for it, because what she least needed right now was reprimands from her mother.

She was tired. Tired of having to oppose to that, when she would get nothing but pain and betrayal. Maybe it would be easier to give up like Draco had. It would save headaches; she could carry on with the plans laid out, joining the dark side. So what if her loyalty didn't belong to it? It was her fate. She was going to have to do it anyway.

A soft knock on the door made her release her hold on the sheets. Her mother peeked in, her blonde hair, darker than hers, straight and sliding down her shoulders.

"We're leaving in ten minutes. Are you ready?" Narcissa asked with a small smile. Maia rose from the bed, displaying her dress. Her mother looked at her and widened her smile. It was a dress that she had given herself, pastel blue, with diamonds anchored in the bodice, her back exposed and covering up to her ankles. "You look beautiful, Maia."

"Thank you." It was the only thing Maia whispered under her breath.

"I must say that you look a lot like me when I was young. You may have your father's eyes, but you definitely have the Black genes. Look."

Narcissa gestured for her to come with her, and Maia, curious, obeyed. They entered their parents' room and Narcissa opened an old book —judging by its appearance and the dust on its back. She searched through all the photos there were - photos that would remind her mother to see - until she came to one in particular. In it, three girls of different ages were standing with their backs to a large, serious-looking mansion, none of them smiling. One had tousled black hair and deeply bitter black eyes. The other was easily recognized; it was her mother. She was just like Maia, except with ice blue eyes. In between the two, a dark haired girl, visibly older than her mother, probably Bellatrix's age.

"Is it Andromeda?" Maia muttered, running her fingertips over the old photo.

"Yes, it is Andromeda, my older sister. I do not have many photos, only the few that gave me time to collect. She got married at a very young age, and she never appeared again in our lives, so I only have photos of our adolescence."

"She looks a bit like Aunt Bellatrix. She married a muggle, right?"

Her mother tensed a little beside her, her blue eyes widening. She closed the album abruptly. "Yes. A Hufflepuff named Ted Tonks. They married and had a daughter, but I have never heard from my sister."

"Oh, so it was easier than it sounds." Maia let out, knowing that her mother would hear her, and her heart was shaken with guilt when she saw her sad face. "I would like to meet her sometime."

"I don't know if it's the most appropriate—"

"And my cousin too." Maia interrupted, the corners of her lips rising. "Are we leaving?"

"Cheers!" The six yelled, clashing their glasses. Then everyone drowned the burning liquid through their throats.

Daphne and Eden coughed as the fire whiskey burned in their stomachs, while the remaining four laughed, amused, at the reaction of the two younger ones.

"I don't think you have ever done this." Pansy slurred. Draco held her around the waist while laughing loudly.

"Normally my parents don't get fire whiskey at Christmas dinners, but it seems this time the occasion was worthy of it." Daphne said with the bottle in hand and giggling.

Dinner had ended an hour ago, so the youngest had taken advantage of the crowd in the Greengrass room to escape to the terrace of the Manor with alcohol. The truth was that none of the six had opposed the idea of ​​drinking until they forgot their names, but most had encouraged that idea.

Dinner had been tense. Lord Voldemort had presided over the long table, with the Greengrass, Zabini, Malfoy, Parkinson families and what was left of the Whitakers, plus many others known in the wizarding world for their relationship with the dark side. It was an implicit rule that the children sit next to the parents, so Draco and Maia had taken their places next to Lucius and Narcissa, who also looked more groomed for the occasion.

Everything had passed in silence, only listening to the sounds of the cutlery against the dishes or the hacking of some. Occasionally Voldemort would ask a random question, but no one paid much attention unless he addressed them specifically. Luckily for Maia, he had never spoken directly to her, but she had felt his red eyes watching her.

After dinner, Voldemort had politely asked the teens to leave the room to have a word with the adults, and the group had left, relieved, as had others like Astoria or Theodore Nott.

"Come on, drink this." Daphne said to Maia with a mischievous smile. "I think you are the most sober, so it's your turn."

Pansy laughed, still in Draco's arms, as Daphne refilled Maia's glass until there was no more liquid to fill it. Eden looked at her —you don't have to drink that to prove anything— but Maia was encouraged by the burning liquid inside her body, so she smiled too.

"What do I get in return?"

Daphne smirked. "What do you want?"

Blaise and Draco made sounds -ooooh- at Daphne's obvious flirting with Maia. The latter's smile froze, feeling strangely caught up in the Greengrass' game. Without saying anything, she drank the glass and winced just after, absorbing the taste of the alcohol. Pansy high fived Maia, and Daphne rolled her eyes while laughing.

The boys kept drowning alcohol into their bodies except for Eden, who smiled sheepishly every time he was offered a drink and claimed he was too dizzy to go on. Draco and Blaise looked at each other and shrugged at the same time, deciding to drink them.

The cold was no longer in their bodies. They were wearing black suits and a white shirt —very original, Maia had thought when she saw the three of them wearing the same thing— while they were wearing dresses of different colors, different cuts and different details.

They decided to sit in the armchairs on the terrace, perfectly equipped with blankets to tolerate the characteristic cold of Christmas.

The older Greengrass was coming dangerously close to her, and although one part of Maia was drawn to the game, the other part was telling her to stay away or things would end badly. But who cared? Daphne was drunk, of that there was no doubt: she spoke in a rush and her green eyes narrowed every time she laughed. Eden had spotted it, too, and had cast several warning glances at Maia, who had simply shrugged.

"I fucking love you guys. This is by far the best night of my life." Pansy grinned, her eyes as gone as Daphne's.

"You're such a softie, Parkinson." Eden said, drinking from the glass. "And drunk."

"Hey, Maia, I've got more of this in my room. Come with me?" Daphne proposed.

However, she was the only one who noticed. The others were too engrossed talking to each other, or simply not caring what was going on around them, enjoying the night. So Maia nodded. Daphne wrapped her arm around hers, as if afraid she was going to fall —Maia thought about it, as the Greengrass was pacing back and forth— before reaching her room. Luckily, the terrace of the Manor didn't force you to go through the dining room, but directly led to the hallway on the top floor, where the rooms were.

Daphne closed the door when they both entered the room. Maia had never been there before, so she took her time to observe it. Most of the room was covered with posters of singers or photos with her sister Astoria. The Greengrass tiptoed to reach the top shelf of her closet to get the bottles she had managed to acquire from her parents' kitchen.

Maia smiled when Daphne was unable to get to where she had deposited them herself, and reached out to pick them up for her. She pointed to her heels, trying to justify why she could reach that height -as if she was not taller than most being barefoot- and handed her the two bottles she had been able to visualize.

Maia noticed the blonde's condition quickly. She didn't talk much —for fear of dragging out the words— and she stared too hard at things. "Are you okay?" Maia finally asked. She had gotten drunk from time to time, but had never seen Daphne's condition before, and, counting that she was in her own home, she didn't want to leave the girl to her fate.

"Yeah, sure." She said opening another of the bottles and taking a big sip. "You look beautiful. Blue suits you." Daphne walked over to her and tucked a strand behind her ear. Maia shuddered.

"You need to stop drinking. If your parents call you, you're screwed, Daphne."

"Who cares? They don't even take me into account. They think that I am the weak one, and that the daughter who really benefits them is Astoria. She is everything they would want in a daughter: smart, ambitious, and to follow their footsteps. But in their eyes I am not like that, and that has condemned me."

"Come on, Daphne. You don't know what you say. You are not fully aware right now."

The Greengrass approached Maia and wrapped her arms around her neck. Malfoy's breathing quickened, not knowing how to respond to her actions.

"I am perfectly aware. I don't want to follow their footsteps, Maia. I want to be myself. Don't you want to be you? I'm sick of always having to listen to them. I hate having to pretend I am not. I just want this to be over."

Maia understood her perfectly, but her position only made her feel uncomfortable. "You are worth more than what your parents say, Daphne. Don't listen to them. We aren't born for this. We will be who we want to be, someday, I promise you."

"Really?" Daphne looked into her eyes hopefully.

The Malfoy gave her a smile. Daphne kissed her. Maia instinctively closed her eyes, but quickly tensed: those were not Ginny's lips. Daphne's kiss was sloppy and quick due to her drunken state, and Maia parted as gently as she could, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings.

Daphne's mouth was slightly open, as if she had just realized what she had done. Maia opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Probably in other circumstances she would have played along, but now she had Ginny in she life. And they might not be anything serious, but Maia's heart kept her from betraying all the times she had put her lips together with the redhead.

"Don't worry, Daph. You are drunk." Maia said quickly, seeing the Greengrass' wet eyes. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

She looked like she needed a hug, so the Malfoy did. Daphne broke into tears in her arms in a disconsolate way. Maia concluded that not only was she drunk, but she had just shown her her deepest secret. Maia felt deep empathy for the girl, who was still sobbing.

"It's alright." She took her by the shoulders and smiled gently at her. "You have to eat something to get you sober. Wait, I'll wipe your lipstick off." Maia took out her wand and fixed the mess Daphne had around her lips, and took the opportunity to do the same with her own —thanks to the girl. "We should go down, they will start to suspect."

"I'm so sorry, Maia. I shouldn't have— No, let me speak." It seemed that the alcohol was going down from Daphne's body, who seemed to speak much better now. "I know Theo and I went out for a couple of months, but I realized that wasn't going to work because I had my head and heart out of that relationship. I started to look more at the girls than at the boys, and that you were in front of me always didn't help. You are always so sure of yourself, so smart... I couldn't help but admire you, and I think that over time I realized that my attraction to you was increasing. You're hot, you can't blame me." Daphne giggled. Then her face darkened. "I'm sorry for what's going to happen tonight, Maia. I really am."

"What? What do you mean?" Maia was puzzled.

However, Daphne didn't respond. She opened the door to the large dining room, where all the families were standing, surrounding a figure.

"Ah, there you are, Maia. Come closer, please." Lucius held out his hand and a smile occupied his lips.

Ignorantly, Maia glanced at Daphne, and when she found no answer, she searched the room for the others. Eden was shaking her head, Draco was looking at her with sadness in his eyes, and Blaise and Pansy didn't dare raise their heads.

The Malfoy took the skirts of her dress so as not to trip, and hoped that her face and hair were in the best condition. Reluctantly she took Lucius's hand, and her gaze fell on her mother, who didn't deign to look her in the eye either. What was going on there?

"I would like to make an announcement, taking advantage of the fact that we are all here now, including my Lord. It is a great honor and pleasure for the Malfoy family to bond with the Zabini and Greengrass families. After several days of conversations, the three families have agreed a great reinforcement for the ranks of the Dark Lord and, in addition, for the preservation of the purity of the blood in our children and, in due course, also for our grandchildren. So we have decided the convenience that our son Draco will be engaged to the young Astoria, as soon as she is the required age," Maia avoided opening her mouth in horror. She looked at her brother, clenching his jaw helplessly. Astoria was only fourteen years old. What the hell were they thinking about? "And our dear Maia, here present, will marry the young Zabini this summer." Lucius smiled brightly, and the audience, with matching smiles, applauded politely.

Maia's head was spinning. She knew this day would come, but she wouldn't have imagined it this way.

Now she understood everything. She looked around, blinking, as if she was going to wake up from that dream any moment. Blaise was the first to come to her. "I'm sorry." was the only thing that he murmured in her ears when he wrapped her in a hug. The attendees applauded again, thinking that this gesture was a good start for their future marriage.

Tears were gathering in her eyes. Blaise pulled away from her with a subdued expression, and the next to hug her was her own father. How did he have the audacity? How did he find in his coward body a scrap of dignity to hold her after what he had done? She wiped her tears away aggressively, and looked at her mother, who was right in front of her, Lucius with her back to Narcissa.

She moved closer to her father's ear and spat, loud enough for her mother to hear her too, a whisper:

"I will never forget this."

*on my skin I'm going to tattoo
your initial because it's mine
to remember forever
what you did to me one day